Potenzial der Ersatzteillogistik von produzierenden Unternehmen in der Region Berlin/Brandenburg

Ersatzteillogistik sorgt dafür, dass die für die Instandhaltung und/oder Reparatur von Anlagen, Betriebsmitteln und Endprodukten benötigten Ersatzteile in der notwendigen Menge, Art und Qualität beim entsprechenden Bedarfsträger zur richtigen Zeit möglichst kostengünstig be-reitgestellt werden. Ihr kommt generell, insbesondere auch als Differenzierungsmerkmal in hart umkämpften Märkten, eine steigende Bedeutung zu. Vor diesem Hintergrund, die mit einer zunehmenden Verlagerung zu Logistikdienstleistern verbunden ist, stellt sich die Frage, welches Potenzial die Region Berlin/Brandenburg für die Abwicklung der Ersatzteillogistik bietet. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist daher, auf Basis einer empirischen Erhebung das Potenzial der der Region Berlin/Brandenburg für die Ab-wicklung ersatzteillogistischer Aktivitäten abzuschätzen. Dabei werden unterschiedliche Fra-gen geklärt: Welche Bedeutung weist die Ersatzteillogistik für den Unternehmenserfolg auf? Welches Outsourcingpotenzial bietet die Ersatzteillogistik? Nutzen produzierende Unterneh-men ein Ersatzteilzentrum in der Region Berlin/Brandenburg und wie zufrieden sind sie mit dieser Standortentscheidung? Welche Gründe sprechen aus Unternehmenssicht gegen ein Er-satzteilzentrum in Berlin/Brandenburg

Optimal input design for flat systems using B-splines

This paper deals with optimal design of input signals for linear, controllable systems, by means of their flat output. The flat output is parametrized by a polynomial spline and a linear problem is formulated in which both the spline coefficients and the knot locations are found simultaneously. Conservative constraints on the spline coefficients ensure that semi-infinite bounds are never violated and numerical results show that the amount of conservatism is little.status: publishe

Social Participation of Students with Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Seventh Grade

AbstractThis study addresses the social participation of students with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream 7th grade in Flanders (Belgium). Social participation (i.e., social interactions, peer acceptance, friendships, and social self-concept) was assessed by means of questionnaires among 86 students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), 61 students with motor and/or sensory disabilities (MOTSENS) and 1926 normally developing classmates. Seventh grade students with ASD scored less favorably in all aspects. Girls with MOTSENS scored less favorably on some aspects of social participation than typically expected of their peers. The social participation of students with ASD and students with MOTSENS did not differ significantly

Promoting Efficiency in Education: The Cost-Aware Curriculum Model An Efficient and Purposeful Approach to Curriculum Design

[EN] There is a growing need for efficient and purposeful curriculum design. The Cost-Aware curriculum Model emerges as a transformative approach, optimizing the educational effectiveness.Through comprehensive analysis, we optimize the efficiency, quality and sustainability of educational programs while responsibly managing resources. By considering student dynamics, variations in study programs and staff dynamics, we ensure a curriculum that meets diverse needs. This approach reflects our commitment to excellence and fiscal responsibility. The Cost-Aware Curriculum Model aims to harmonize key parameters enhancing curriculum development efficiency and resource utilization. It seeks to strike a balance between resource efficiency and educational quality, fostering insights for optimal curriculum design. The opportunity of this model is the creation of adaptable, responsive curricula that not only, meet current demands but also anticipate and address future challenges in education. This model serves as a tool for higher education institution management to foster a more cost-conscious mindset and approach in the (re)design of curricula. The opportunity of this model is the creation of adaptable, responsive curricula that not only, meet current demands but also anticipate and address future challenges in education. This model serves as a tool for higher education institution management to foster a more cost-conscious mindset and approach in the (re)design of curricula.Demedts, L.; Soogen, G.; Brusselle, H.; Vanacker, D.; Van Puyenbroeck, H.; Vanderstraeten, N. (2024). Promoting Efficiency in Education: The Cost-Aware Curriculum Model An Efficient and Purposeful Approach to Curriculum Design. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd24.2024.1729

Is a motivational interviewing based lifestyle intervention for obese pregnant women across Europe implemented as planned? Process evaluation of the DALI study

Background: Process evaluation is an essential part of designing and assessing complex interventions. The vitamin D and lifestyle intervention study (DALI) study is testing different strategies to prevent development of gestational diabetes mellitus among European obese pregnant women with a body mass index ≥29kg/m2. The intervention includes guidance on physical activity and/or healthy eating by a lifestyle coach trained in motivational interviewing (MI). The aim of this study was to assess the process elements: reach, dose delivered, fidelity and satisfaction and to investigate whether these process elements were associated with changes in gestational weight gain (GWG). Methods: Data on reach, dose delivered, fidelity, and satisfaction among 144 participants were collected. Weekly recruitment reports, notes from meetings, coach logs and evaluation questionnaires (n=110) were consulted. Fidelity of eight (out of twelve) lifestyle coach practitioners was assessed by analysing audio recorded counselling sessions using the MI treatment integrity scale. Furthermore, associations between process elements and GWG were assessed with linear regression analyses. Results: A total of 20% of the possible study population (reach) was included in this analysis. On average 4.0 (of the intended 5) face-to-face sessions were delivered. Mean MI fidelity almost reached \u27expert opinion\u27 threshold for the global scores, but was below \u27beginning proficiency\u27 for the behavioural counts. High variability in quality of MI between practitioners was identified. Participants were highly satisfied with the intervention, the lifestyle coach and the intervention materials. No significant associations were found between process elements and GWG. Conclusion: Overall, the intervention was well delivered and received by the study population, but did not comply with all the principles of MI. Ensuring audio recording of lifestyle sessions throughout the study would facilitate provision of individualized feedback to improve MI skills. A larger sample size is needed to confirm the lack of association between process elements and GWG. Trial registration: ISRCTN registry: ISRCTN70595832 ; Registered 12 December 2011

Cost-effectiveness of healthy eating and/or physical activity promotion in pregnant women at increased risk of gestational diabetes mellitus: Economic evaluation alongside the DALI study, a European multicenter randomized controlled trial

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is associated with perinatal health risks to both mother and offspring, and represents a large economic burden. The DALI study is a multicenter randomized controlled trial, undertaken to add to the knowledge base on the effectiveness of interventions for pregnant women at increased risk for GDM. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the healthy eating and/or physical activity promotion intervention compared to usual care among pregnant women at increased risk of GDM from a societal perspective. Methods: An economic evaluation was performed alongside a European multicenter-randomized controlled trial. A total of 435 pregnant women at increased risk of GDM in primary and secondary care settings in nine European countries, were recruited and randomly allocated to a healthy eating and physical activity promotion intervention (HE + PA intervention), a healthy eating promotion intervention (HE intervention), or a physical activity promotion intervention (PA intervention). Main outcome measures were gestational weight gain, fasting glucose, insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), quality adjusted life years (QALYs), and societal costs. Results: Between-group total cost and effect differences were not significant, besides significantly less gestational weight gain in the HE + PA group compared with the usual care group at 35-37 weeks ( 2.3;95%CI:-3.7;-0.9). Cost-effectiveness acceptability curves indicated that the HE + PA intervention was the preferred intervention strategy. At 35-37 weeks, it depends on the decision-makers\u27 willingness to pay per kilogram reduction in gestational weight gain whether the HE + PA intervention is cost-effective for gestational weight gain, whereas it was not cost-effective for fasting glucose and HOMA-IR. After delivery, the HE + PA intervention was cost-effective for QALYs, which was predominantly caused by a large reduction in delivery-related costs. Conclusions: Healthy eating and physical activity promotion was found to be the preferred strategy for limiting gestational weight gain. As this intervention was cost-effective for QALYs after delivery, this study lends support for broad implementation

Room-temperature control and electrical readout of individual nitrogen-vacancy nuclear spins

Nuclear spins in semiconductors are leading candidates for quantum technologies, including quantum computation, communication, and sensing. Nuclear spins in diamond are particularly attractive due to their extremely long coherence lifetime. With the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centre, such nuclear qubits benefit from an auxiliary electronic qubit, which has enabled entanglement mediated by photonic links. The transport of quantum information by the electron itself, via controlled transfer to an adjacent centre or via the dipolar interaction, would enable even faster and smaller processors, but optical readout of arrays of such nodes presents daunting challenges due to the required sub-diffraction inter-site distances. Here, we demonstrate the electrical readout of a basic unit of such systems - a single 14N nuclear spin coupled to the NV electron. Our results provide the key ingredients for quantum gate operations and electrical readout of nuclear qubit registers, in a manner compatible with nanoscale electrode structures. This demonstration is therefore a milestone towards large-scale diamond quantum devices with semiconductor scalability.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

Mixed Use of Analytical Derivatives and Algorithmic Differentiation for NMPC of Robot Manipulators

International audienceIn the context of nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) for robot manipulators, we address the problem of enabling the mixed and transparent use of algorithmic differentiation (AD) and efficient analytical derivatives of rigid-body dynamics (RBD) to decrease the solution time of the subjacent optimal control problem (OCP). Efficient functions for RBD and their analytical derivatives are made available to the numerical optimization framework CasADi by overloading the operators in the implementations made by the RBD library Pinocchio and adding a derivative-overloading feature to CasADi. A comparison between analytical derivatives and AD is made based on their influence on the solution time of the OCP, showing the benefits of using analytical derivatives for RBD in optimal control of robot manipulators

A reduction in sedentary behaviour in obese women during pregnancy reduces neonatal adiposity: the DALI randomised controlled trial

Aims/hypothesis: Offspring of obese women are at increased risk of features of the metabolic syndrome, including obesity and diabetes. Lifestyle intervention in pregnancy might reduce adverse effects of maternal obesity on neonatal adiposity. Methods: In the Vitamin D And Lifestyle Intervention for Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) Prevention (DALI) lifestyle trial, 436 women with a BMI ≥29 kg/m2 were randomly assigned to counselling on healthy eating (HE), physical activity (PA) or HE&PA, or to usual care (UC). In secondary analyses of the lifestyle trial, intervention effects on neonatal outcomes (head, abdominal, arm and leg circumferences and skinfold thicknesses, estimated fat mass, fat percentage, fat-free mass and cord blood leptin) were assessed using multilevel regression analyses. Mediation of intervention effects by lifestyle and gestational weight gain was assessed. Results: Outcomes were available from 334 neonates. A reduction in sum of skinfolds (−1.8 mm; 95% CI −3.5, −0.2; p = 0.03), fat mass (−63 g; 95% CI −124, −2; p = 0.04), fat percentage (−1.2%; 95% CI −2.4%, −0.04%; p = 0.04) and leptin (−3.80 μg/l; 95% CI −7.15, −0.45; p = 0.03) was found in the HE&PA group, and reduced leptin in female neonates in the PA group (−5.79 μg/l; 95% CI −11.43, −0.14; p = 0.05) compared with UC. Reduced sedentary time, but not gestational weight gain, mediated intervention effects on leptin in both the HE&PA and PA groups. Conclusions/interpretation: The HE&PA intervention resulted in reduced adiposity in neonates. Reduced sedentary time seemed to drive the intervention effect on cord blood leptin. Implications for future adiposity and diabetes risk of the offspring need to be elucidated. Trial registration: ISRCTN70595832